Magnetic Force
by EllawenStark
Summary: Rey and Kylo Ren are drawn to each other, but whether that ends in destruction or balance remains to be seen. The Millennium Falcon stages a daring raid to kidnap the Knight of Ren, but once Rey has him, what will she do with him?


He dreamed of the falcon, pinwheeling in a cerulean sky with only one sun in sight. It taunted him, screeching cries as it ducked and swooped overhead. He reached for it, tried to crush it with the Force, but it soared higher until it was nothing but a distant speck. The silence it left behind was deafening for a few seconds before the sound of the ocean crashing against the island brought him back to himself.

"She is stronger than you." His grandfather's voice whispered across his ears. "She will always be stronger than you."

Kylo Ren jerked awake with a gasp, sweat forming cold beads on his forehead. Rey. Again. Always that damned woman. She was the shape of both his nightmares and dreams, always hovering just out of reach, the one he wanted to crush and yet somehow the one he wanted to be. Vader was right. She was stronger than him and would always be stronger than him, because she knew who she was. He only had to close his eyes to see the light streaming through her. She hadn't been tempted by the dark side, not even for a second, and the serenity in her eyes was equalled only by the chaos in his.

They were two sides of the same coin, two pieces of the same magnet. At the moment they repelled each other, the forces they wielded against each other driving them into opposition, but he had seen her loneliness, her desire to belong. He had felt that too. It was the same loneliness and desire to belong that was tearing him to pieces. If he could understand from her how she managed it, the magnets would flip. They would align. Their loneliness would cancel each other's out. And whether it be dark or light, they would be one.

Somewhere nearby an explosion rocked the ship, throwing him from his bed and from his reverie, but the sense of her closeness persisted. Another explosion sent him reeling and he staggered into the wall of his quarters, pushing upright. She was here! It had to be her, although what she thought she was doing attacking a ship the magnitude of the Finalizer was anyone's guess.

Dressing at speed, he shoved his helmet on and pushed out into the chaos of the corridor. People were running everywhere, sprawling against the floors and walls as another series of explosions sent the entire ship tilting sideways. She had somehow managed to get inside the shields. Finn…he must have assisted her somehow. Damn that renegade!

"Has the hull been breached?" He demanded, snagging a storm trooper rushing past, and the white helmet turned his way.

"Yes, Lord Ren. Three sections of the port side are venting. They're sealing them off now."

That would explain the tilt of the floor. Depressurisation would destabilise the gravity sensors and thrusters until they locked down the damaged areas and repressurised around them. Kylo Ren dropped the unfortunate soldier and snarled. "Ready the command module." Whatever she was doing, she wasn't going to get away this time. The rebel army had taken enough chunks out of the First Order fleet and this time he wasn't injured. He would bend her to his will or destroy her.

"Yes, Sir." The soldier did an about turn and ran for the command module hangar.

The sound of shrieking swelled from deep within the ship, echoing through the halls as more and more voices joined the chorus of terror. There was far too much noise for the sounds of a balanced battle but there was no way the rebel forces had managed to sneak enough men on board to instil this level of terror in men as highly trained for combat as the troopers. Something else was going on.

His feet itched to head to the command module and chase the falcon into the cosmos, but rational thought drove him towards the screaming to see what terror the rebels had inflicted on the ship.

It didn't take him long to figure it out when long, flailing tentacles came hurtling around a corner at him in a maelstrom of suckers and teeth. Rathtar. They'd filled his ship with Rathtar. The icy calm of the dark side enveloped him, swarming his skin with a million pinpricks of frost, and he shoved the creature back with the Force, drawing his lightsabre. He could leave his troops to deal with them while he chased down the Millennium Falcon, but it was an unnecessary waste of life. Snoke had been clear that he needed to retain control of his emotions if he ever wanted to beat Skywalker and an irrational desire to abandon his ship to the mercy of the monsters to chase a girl did not feature in that plan.

The red light glowed, filling the hall with static hum, and Kyle Ren felt the savage joy that always lit in his chest whenever he was at one with his weapon. The Rathtar was enraged, shrieking and fighting the hold he had on it, but it was no match for his power and he dispatched it swiftly in a spray of slime and severed tentacles. Grimly, he flexed his wrist and went in search of the others, his coat swirling behind him.

"We'll get that bastard this time." Rey hopped into the pilot's seat of the Falcon, flipping switches as fast as her hands could traverse the dashboard. "This is a fight he can't ignore."

Chewbacca made a fierce sound of assent, his need to destroy that black-cloaked patricidal maniac even stronger than hers, but that wasn't why they were here. "We can't kill him, Chewie. I'm sorry. I wish we could, but…" She trailed off and Chewbacca filled in the rest of the sentence. "I know. They think there's still light in there. He can come back. Personally, I don't know how the General can stand to look at him after what he did to… Chewie, I'm sorry. I should never have brought it up."

One of the charges they'd placed in the star destroyer detonated, breaking up their moment of shared grief, and they both went back to their tasks. R2D2 sounded the alarm for incoming TIE fighters and Rey toggled her headset.

"Finn, you got this?"

"I'm on it!"

Seconds later she heard the guns firing. It was time to disengage and dance around a little until they had Kylo Ren's attention. Then they would lead him on a merry chase.


End file.
